Face shield assembly for a hard hat



Sept. 20, 1966 R. R. THOMAS 3,273,164

FACE SHIELD ASSEMBLY FOR A HARD HAT Filed Sept. 9, 1964 INVENTOR.Robe/"f R. Thomas United States Patent 3,273,164 FACE SHIELD ASSEMBLYFOR A HARD HAT Robert R. Thomas, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to ParmeleePlastics Company, Kansas City, Mo., :1 corporation of Missouri FiledSept. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 395,197 7 Claims. (Cl. 2-10) forming certainindustrial operations has dictated that noise attenuators, as well assome sort of shielding device to protect the workmans face and eyes, beaffixed to the conventional hard hats. These noise attenuators havetaken the form of devices resembling earmulfs constructed of acousticalinsulating material and mounted on either side of the hard hat.

Attempts have been made to incorporate into the headgear a face shieldof transparent material and constructed similar to the familiar shieldsworn by welders during their Work. A shield of this construction has theadvantage of being readily swingable through an arc from a working,substantially upright position in front of the workmans face to araised, substantially horizontal position clearing the face to permittalking, smoking or the like.

Difliculty has been encountered, however, in affixing such a shield tothe conventional hard hat due to the curvilinear shape of the hat.Inasmuch as it is necessary to have mounting means for the soundattenuators disposed generally over the workmans ears and on either'side of the hat, these mounting means are-not properly located for useper se in pivotally fastening the shield to the hat. Assuming arms ofsuflicient length could be fastened to the shield to permit pivoting ofthe shield on the attenuator mounts, the shield would extend far abovethe hat when it was swung to the raised position. If mounting pivots forthe shield are alfixed to the hat itself forwardly of the attenuatormounts, the curved surface of the hat disposes the pivots too closetogether to permit free swing of the shield through a substantially 90arc.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide abracket for mounting a face shield to a hard hat with the shield beingpivoted at locations to permit optimum swinging of the shield from itsworking position to a position not substantially higher than the hat.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a mountingbracket which utilizes the sound attenuator mounting means for fasteningthe shield to the hat, yet permitting optimum location of the faceshield pivoting means.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a novelmounting bracket which presents a bearing surface to serve as a stop forholding the shield in its proper working position in spaced relationshipwith the workmans face.

A yet further object of this invention is to provide a face shieldmounting bracket which is firmly secured in fixed relationship with thehard hat to provide a solid foundation for the shield in anypredetermined position of the shield with respect to the wearer.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of a mountingbracket which is easily and inexpensively manufactured and affixed tothe hard hat and to the shield and which does not cause damage to theshield when it comes into contact therewith.

Another object of this invention is to provide a face 3,273,164 PatentedSept. 20, 1966 ice shield mounting bracket which can be readily usedwith hard hats of various sizes and configurations.

Still other important objects of the instant invention will becomeapparent or Will be further explained in the following specification.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view on a reduced scale of safetyheadgear embodying a mounting bracket of this invention showing the facemask in its working position, the raised, standby position thereofappearing in dashed lines;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, top plan view of the headgear;

F'IG. 3 is a fragmentary, front elevational view of the head-gear; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 ofFIG. 3.

Safety headgear embodying the novel mounting bracket of this inventionis broadly designated 10 and includes a safety helmet or hard hat 12,commonly worn by construction workers. A pair of sound attenuatordevices 14 are mounted on each side of hat 12, and a face shield 16 ispivotally mounted on hat 12 by means of a mounting bracket 18.

The sound attenuators 14 are secured to each side of hat 12 by means ofoutwardly projecting mounting studs 20 to which .are affixed spring yokeassemblies 22 which carry the attenuator cups 24 in disposition to beengaged over the ears of the wearer of head-gear 10. Studs 20 projectingfrom either side of hat 12 may extend into engagement with theassemblies 22 for holding the latter in proper spaced relationship fromthe sides of hat 12 as shown best in FIG. 3.

Mounting bracket 18 comprises a band of resilient material which may bepolyethylene or the like, and is bent into a generally U-shape topresent a pair of legs 26 extending forwardly from mounting studs 20 anda bight section 28 integral with the legs 26. An elongated slot 30 inbight section 28 receives the forward portion of the visor 32 of hat 12.Slot 30 is shorter than the width of visor 32 so that only theforward-most extremity of the latter projects beyond bi-ght section 28as shown in the drawings.

Each leg 26 is provided with an elongated slot 3 4 at shown in FIG. 1.The slots '34 are received over the respective mounting studs 20, andbracket 18 is securely clamped to hat 12 beneath the yoke assemblies 22by means of removable fasteners 36 received over the respec- 'tivemounting studs 20. The bight section 28 is of increased width to present.a substantial front surface 38 for bracket 18, as shown in FIG. 3. Thehat visor 32 and mounting studs 20 hold the mounting bracket 18 inposition with the outer surface of the latter in generally uprightdisposition.

Face shield 16 includes a semicircular frame member 40 pivotally mountedon each leg 26 of bracket 18 by pivot means 42 spaced forwardly from therespective mounting studs 20. Pivots 42 are in axial alignment toprovide means for swinging member 40 on a substantially horizontal axis.Friction members 43, which may be washers of rubber or like material,are disposed between frame member 40 and legs 26 at the pivots 42 forfrictionally holding shield 16 in any predetermined position withrespect to hat 12.

Member 40 is provided with fasteners 44 spaced at intervals. Thefasteners 44 cooperate with corresponding fasteners on a transparentshield member 46 to releasably secure the same to member 40 as shown inFIGS. 1 and 2.

Face shield 16 may be utilized by the wearer of headgear 10 inface-shielding position as shown in full lines 3 in FIG. 1. If desired,however, the shield may be pivoted to the dotted line position shown inFIG. 1.

The location of the pivot means 42 well forward of the I mounting studs20, permits free movement of the shield from the face-shielding positionto the raised position Without the shield 46 or the frame member 40extend ing above the uppermost extremity of hat 12. Further, thelocation of the pivots 42 on the forwardly extending legs 26 permit thepivots 42 to be spaced outwardly from the curved contour of the hat atsuch forward positions, whereby the frame member 40 can freely swingupwardly without contacting the dome portion of hat 12.

The front surface 38 of bracket 18 provides a substantial bearingsurface which is engaged by the shield member 46 when the latter is inits face-shielding position as shown in FIG. 2. This limits the extentof swinging movement of shield 16 and holds the latter in proper spacedrelationship from the face of the workman. The flexible construction ofbracket 18 prevents damage to the transparent shield member 46 whenshield 16 is in the face-shielding position. Any such damage isparticularly avoided when relatively soft material, such as polyethyleneplastic, is used for fabricating bracket 18. Inasmuch as the shieldmembers 46 are conventionally formed of relatively soft plasticmaterial, it is especially important to prevent contact between theshield members and hard surfaces which might scratch or scar thetransparent shield member.

The configuration of bracket 18 is particularly suited to permit rapidand inexpensive fabrication thereof from flat sheet material with asimple stamping operation. The elongated slots 34 permit utilization ofbrackets 18 with hard hats of a variety of sizes and configurations.

Visor 32 projects through slot 30 to insure that bracket 18 remainsfirmly and fixedly positioned with respect to hat 12 at all times.However, the extent of projection of visor 32 through slot 30 is notsuflicient to permit the visor to cause interference with or damage toface shield 16 as the latter is swung to and from the face-shieldingposition thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In asafety headgear comprising a hard hat having a visor, a pair ofsound attenuators, means mounting an attenuator on each side of the hat,and a face shield, the combination with said headgear of:

bracket means secured to the attenuator mounting means and extendingforwardly therefrom said bracket means including a U-shaped bandcomprising a pair of legs and a bight section integral with the legs andhaving an elongated slot therein, a leg extending on each side of thehat with the visor being received through said slot; and

vmeans pivotally mounting the shield on the bracket forwardly of theattenuator mounting means for swinging movement through an arc in frontof said visor.

2. A headgear as set forth in claim 1, wherein the slot is shorter thanthe width of the visor whereby the band is held in fixed relationshipwith respect to the visor.

3. A headgear as set forth in claim 2, the bight section presenting agenerally flat, upright surface in disposition to be engaged by theshield when the latter is swung to a predetermined position in onedirection for holding the shield against further swinging in saiddirection.

4. A headgear as set forth in claim 3, wherein said bight section is ofgreater Width than the legs to present a substantial bearing surfaceadapted to be engaged by the shield.

5. A headgear :as set forth in claim 1, wherein said shield-mountingmeans includes a horizontally extendpivot on each leg respectively, saidpivots being in axial alignment with the shield being pivotally securedto said pivots for swinging on a substantially horizontal axis.

6. In a safety headgear comprising a hard hat having a visor, a pair ofsound attenuators, and means mounting an attenuator on each side of thehat, the combination with said headgear of:

bracket means presenting a U-shaped band having a pair of legs and abight section integral with the legs, said attenuator mounting meanssecuring the free end of each respective leg to a corresponding side ofsaid hat with the legs extending forwardly therefrom whereby said bightis disposed adjacent said visor;

means carried by the bracket and engaging said hat adjacent the visorfor preventing movement of the bracket with respect to the hat;

a face shield; and

means pivotally mounting said shield on the bracket for swingingmovement through an arc in front of said visor.

7. A headgear as set forth in claim 6, wherein said bracket is resilientand flexible.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 894,258 7/ 1908Cobb 179--15 2,016,775 10/1935 Gingg 28 2,248,331 7/1941 Blodjer 2102,270,238 1/ 1942 Clarke et a1. 26 X 2,487,848 11/1949 Bowers 282,926,357 3/1960 Edwards et al. 28 3,108,282 10/1963 Rehman et a1. v2-63,187,342 6/1965 Aileo 23 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

I. R. BOLER, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A SAFETY HEADGEAR COMPRISING A HARD HAT HAVING A VISOR, A PAIR OFSOUND ATTENUATORS, MEANS MOUNTING AN ATTENUATOR ON EACH SIDE OF THE HAT,AND A FACE SHIELD, THE COMBINATION WITH SAID HEADGEAR OF: BRACKET MEANSSECURED TO THE ATTENUATOR MOUNTING MEANS AND EXTENDING FORWARDLYTHEREFROM SAID BRACKET MEANS INCLUDING A U-SHAPED BAND COMPRISING A PAIROF LEGS AND A BIGHT SECTION INTEGRAL WITH THE LEGS AND HAVING ANELONGATED SLOT THEREIN, A LEG EXTENDING ON EACH SIDE OF THE HAT WITH THEVISOR BEING RECEIVED THROUGH SAID SLOT; AND MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTING THESHIELD ON THE BRACKET FORWARDLY OF THE ATTENUATOR MOUNTING MEANS FORSWINGING MOVEMENT THROUGH AN ARC IN FRONT OF SAID VISOR.